Did you Get Lost in the Garden?

This week my daughter and I put together a couple more raised beds in the garden. They aren’t exactly what I planned to do in the vegetable garden layout that I made a couple months ago but the addition of the extra beds has definitely improved over the layout I had last year, at least in terms of space. They…

Fall color can be enjoyed in many ways. From a distance where you see swaths of golds, reds, and oranges mixed together with evergreen foliage. Through the observation of individual leaves with their unique textures, colors, and shapes. One way I like to look at fall foliage is to see what they all look like together, merged as Mother Nature…

This past Saturday I went to the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show.  The weather outside was a snowy overcast mess so what better way could there be to spend the day than to go somewhere with gardens and plants?  We brought the whole family up and had a great time perusing the garden displays, playing with ducks and chickens, and…

Fall is definitely at its peak here in Middle Tennessee! Rhonda at Adventures in My Garden has some great fall color in her own backyard. The view from her back porch is spectacular and would be envied by anyone who likes autumn leaves. Is there really anyone who doesn’t? And the quote she picked out by George Eliot to start…

One of the great flowering summer trees of the south is the crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). They typically grow well in zones 6-9 (Tennessee generally falls in the zone 6 area with a few areas in the 7). One of the growing traits of a crape myrtle that makes them good for propagating by cuttings is their ability to sucker….

As you can see from the picture to the left that this tree has taken a beating. Last fall when the deer were out in force a buck decided to rut against several of my favorite trees. Coincidentally all the deer damaged trees were young trees that I had planted in the yard including two maples, a dogwood and one…

This week we’ve gotten some serious work done on the patio area but there is quite a lot still to do; isn’t there always? Thursday I brought a truckload of sand to cover the gravel. The sand helps when setting the stones in place by creating a soft layer that is easily manipulated for leveling the stones.Here is how it…

I’ve finally gotten around to one of the chores I’ve been meaning to do for two years! Amazing how that works isn’t it? You intend to do a project in the garden then you get distracted with other projects and it becomes to late to accomplish. Today I finally mulched the west side of the planting bed outside of the…

For today’s Fall Color Posts we have three garden bloggers who all decided to take their photography skills on a walk through the park. Of course since the bloggers live it different states it was not the same park but one thing was the same, awesome photography and great fall color! Oh wait…that was two things… oh well, just go…

Here is a little guide on various plants that you can propagate in your home garden. I’ve included the types of propagation where I’ve been successful (seeds, Layering, Division, Cuttings, etc.).  If I can do it so can you! The links in the tables below will take you to posts I have written as a guide based on my experiences…

Have you tried rooting hardwood cuttings only to have them rot or fail to grow? Don’t give up just yet. Hardwood propagation is one of the most rewarding ways to grow your garden for free, but there are a few “make or break” steps that determine your success. While you can take cuttings anytime during the dormant season, I find…

The current project I’m working on for Lowe’s Creative Ideas fits into two categories for me: indoor gardening and vertical gardening.  “Migration” was the theme given to us which means we were to bring the garden indoors but the issue with that for me is space.  I bring plants indoors to overwinter each year like coleus or my avocado tree…

This Thursday through Sunday is the Nashville Lawn and Garden Show put on by the Horticultural Society of Tennessee.  It’s a combination of show gardens, displays, and all kinds of garden goodies. The display gardens were impressive, filled with water features, flowering plants, and fire features! All the elements were at play in each of the designs. Natural looking water…

Just recently I checked some cuttings of Densiformis Yew (Taxus x media; also Taxus cuspidata) and found roots! Densiformis Yew is also known as a spreading yew and is a common evergreen shrub in landscape plantings. It makes an attractive foundation planting with its dark green needles. If you have animals fond of chewing on plants avoid planting yews since…

As previously mentioned in my 2009 garden project list I am working on a self sowing garden. I mentioned the advantages to a self sowing garden earlier in the week and my own personal reasons for wanting to plant it and now it’s time for the next step…seeds. But first, what are self sowing plants? Since plants generally reproduce from…

Today was another good work day in the vegetable garden. I managed to get all the mulch laid on the pathways and even added a few stepping stones in one section. I’ll add a few more every now and then and eventually I’ll have them around the whole garden. As I was working around the garden putting the mulch down…

My daughter and I recently did a little project. We took materials that were lying around the house and put together a mini-seed starting greenhouse. It was a simple and easy project to work on with my 3 and a half year old daughter. Read on to see what we did.Materials: Paper roll tubes, a rectangular tin foil pan, a…

It’s time again for another Seed Sowing Saturday post where we talk about what we sowed over the week, how the seedlings are doing, and any tips or tricks that we run across in our seed sowing adventures. This week I finally got around to sowing basil, peppers, eggplant, and a few others! I planted the seeds in a peat…